Chapter 1

"Here's ten thousand for today's shopping. Anyway, it should be enough, don't ask me again. Oh yeah, I'm requesting food that has meat like chicken, not tofu and tempeh that you give me all the time."

I was silent listening to the words of Mas Guntur who put the money on the table with annoyance. He seems to be annoyed that every day I feed him tempeh and tofu.

"Did you hear that, Diana?!" He snapped back at me, it's not unusual anymore, I'm tired of hearing it.

"No." I answered short. Stupid so with all this, I'm fed up.

"You're an insolent wife, aren't you! Instead of obeying your husband, you keep on denying it. Don't make it your dream to be a disobedient wife, huh?!"

Whatever. I shrugged, went back to finishing the dishes. Think of it as the last wind. He thought he could live all of this with that kind of money, huh?! Funny.

"Mom, dad! I have to pay school fees, otherwise I can't take the exam later. Why hasn't my school been paid for? All my other friends have already."

Hearing the words of Putra—our only child who is already in the third grade of elementary school, Mas Guntur immediately glared at me. He seemed really annoyed.

"What's wrong with you, Din? The children's school fees haven't been paid. I give you shopping money every day for all our needs."

Think to yourself, I snorted indignantly. Really, if you want to know why I don't want to fight, the answer is that every day I fight against my husband.

The answer is as if he gives me a million every day. Does he really think he's comfortable managing ten grand with everything to take care of? Had he never thought before?

"You ask your Mama! Papa wants to work first or we won't be able to eat later. It's already really dizzy Papa is in this house, don't blame me if I instead give you a new outlet outside."

Huh. I looked at him cynically. Really, if I wasn't disobedient, I would have almost thrown the plate I was washing at Mas Guntur. It's been a while, but I can still think straight.

Mas Guntur angrily left the housing. I took a deep breath, looked at Putra who was still standing, he had not moved an inch from where he was. Still waiting.

"Mommy will look for it first, son, for the money. You just get ready for school, or you'll be late for school."

The boy looked at me, then ran to hug me. I hugged my only son back. Rubbing his head.

"I'm sorry, Mama, darling. You're just getting in trouble like this. Every day you eat something that isn't nutritious, you get ridiculed at school. I'm sorry, son." I close my eyes.

"It's okay, Mom. Mom has tried to make Son so he can continue school. Ten thousand from Dad every day, Son is sure it won't be enough, right, Mom? Even Son is only given a thousand for snacks at school."

"Okay, Son, don't think about Mama. Son, just think about school, OK? Don't think about Mama and Papa. Let Mama take care of everything."

"Mommy aren't you tired? Putra can help you."

No. I immediately shook my head, understanding where Putra was talking. He repeatedly said he wanted to drop out of school, so that I wouldn't bother managing finances.

"Come on, get ready, son. Don't say that again, Mama won't allow it."

In fact, Putra must have been fed up with being billed for school fees every day, as well as ridiculed by his friends who could go to the cafeteria. I sighed slowly, helping to get my son's school bag, so that my son would go to school.

"Mama loves Putra. Don't quit school for Mama, son. Mama won't allow it."

Putra bowed his head, making me hug him. I took a deep breath. Only Putra is my only strength right now.

"Cheer up, Ma. Sorry I can't be of much help."

After Putra went to school, I went back into the house. Tidy up a bit, then get ready to go. I do have plans after this, should come soon.

My door is knocked. Just finished showering. Who came this early in the morning?

"Miss!"

I immediately slapped my forehead to see who came this early in the morning. I think Mas Guntur returned home because someone missed something or wanted to see what I was cooking.

"Morning, sis!"

The one who came just now was Rumi, my little sister. He had just returned from out of town after a week there taking care of something.

"May I come in, miss?" asked Rumi making me frown, strange.

"Usually it's also direct as long as you enter. You don't need to use permission every time. Like anything."

Hearing what I said, Rumi immediately laughed, he entered the house, headed straight to the kitchen.

"You don't go straight to Mama and Papa's house? Go straight to Ma'am's house?" I asked looking at the suitcase that was near the door.

"Oh that, I want to stay here for a while, sis. Mom and Dad sent them, they're going to be really busy."

"So you live here first? Why don't you just stay in the villa? You know how the house is, Rum."

"The condition of this house? What do you mean, Ma'am?"I pointed at the cooked tempeh and tofu on the dining table. Very ignorant about Mas Guntur wanting to eat meat or something like that. I won't cook anything else.

"Wow, tofu and tempeh. There aren't any there, sis. The food is all weird." Rumi immediately pinched one of the tempeh on the plate.

"Miss, I want to go first after this, then to Mama and Papa's house to ask for help. Do you want to come with me?" I asked as I swept back.

Rumi nodded his head. He always just goes with what I say. I shook my head at my sister's behavior.

"Can I have the CCTV footage that we have installed secretly, Ma'am?"

Hearing that, I immediately looked at Rumi, then nodded my head. "Later, don't be in this house. You can see as much as you like on the street."

Yes, we did install CCTV in this house. I myself said that I had to because there was something I wanted to prove myself.

"Let's go, the car is already in front."

My brother immediately left. I locked the door of the house, then stepped gracefully into the car parked in front of the house earlier.

"You're beautiful, Ma'am. You should always wear clothes like this. It's not that shabby negligee, and you also don't fit in with that life. Rumi advises you to leave the house that's already like hell as soon as possible."

"Surely Rumi, but not now."

Rumi took a deep breath at my answer. He already knows what I want to do.

"Don't torture yourself too long, sis. I do support you, but if you go too far, don't blame me if I later intervene."

"It's safe, Rumi. Ma'am just wants to play with him. He thinks it's cool like that? Ma'am will make his life slowly tormented, slowly, but really painful."

***